2015 Galiano Literary Festival

1 dogs IMG_2152There was a great deal to organize before I could leave home for the 2015 Galiano Literary Festival, not the least of which was organizing a dogsitter.  “Could she bring her dog?” she asked before she came.  She arrived with four, and two days later drove 2 hours to her home to fetch a fifth.  So she spent the whole week juggling 7 dogs!  (I’m glad I wasn’t there!)  (In the picture, Harry is visiting with 3-legged Bear.)

I left early the following morning.  -15C, and there was ice on the truck windshield.  About the time I got to the highway, the truck was warm.  But the truck was going to sit at the end of my ice road with its chains on, and I loaded the last items into the van – then had to scrape the van’s windshield and start driving in another cold vehicle.  All this in the dark.

First light happened in less than an hour, and the morning was gorgeous with the sun peeping in and out of layers of mist.

2 sunrise to Ws Lk IMG_2156A bit of business in town, and then south to the interior desert country near Ashcroft.  I had left the snow far behind and was marvelling at all that bare ground – and green grass!

3 AshcroftMy host lived above a little lake that was still frozen.  The willows were a lovely pink colour against the bluey-grey ice.

4 pondA walk by the pond revealed a rock thickly plastered with lichen.

5 lichens IMG_2169and two old cottonwood trees.

6 cottonwoods IMG_2174The next day started dull but the sun came out in the Fraser canyon.

7 Canyon IMG_2181A few spits of rain later, but mostly it was dry.  The lower mainland was redolent of dairy farms – it must have been manure-spreading season.  The gardens were already in flower.

8 cr0cusesIMG_2183

9 cherry blossomA day of shopping – new glasses, computer accessories, miso – and on Friday morning I caught the ferry to Galiano.  It is a very old boat that putters between the islands.  It is due to be scrapped very soon.  I hope the bell is saved.

10 ferry bellI was met by hosts Terry and Irene Trueman.

10a. Terry and IreneTerry had been a client at Nuk Tessli; when he had seen my name on the author list he invited me to stay.  That afternoon, he and Irene took me on a short walk.  I love to visit the Coast (but couldn’t stand to live there!) The arbutus trees are always stunning.

11 arbutusSomeone had made this interesting driftwood sculpture beside the trail.

12 deerWe saw a lot of birds.  Black oyster catchers.

13 oyster catchersIMG_2207Hooded mergansers

14 hooded mergansersIMG_2215And Barrows Goldeneyes waiting to go up north and breed in my neighbouring mountains.

15 barrows goldeneyes IMG_2224The next day I had to work!  The festival was held at the Galiano Inn with its dramatic view of Mt Baker behind the ferry dock,

16. Baker view IMG_2238and its beautifully landscaped gardens.

17 flowering almondFirst I was supposed to join a panel discussion about writing and the environment with 3 very politically motivated writers, Andrew Nikiforuk, Arno Kopecky, And the Green Party’s Leader, Elizabeth May.  I am definitely not politically-minded.  I gave a little speech about solar power and how people should not take such luxuries for granted.  Towards the end, the discussion veered towards the idea that the only way to save the world is to wipe out people.  I was asked what I thought. I had no idea what to say!  (In the 30 seconds that was left.)  So I said: “Well… I am a spinster and I’m too old to have kids so I’ve done my bit.” At least everyone had a laugh.

I gave my slide show later that day.

19 MeJust before I left for Galiano, I got a couple of books out of the Tatla Lake library.  They were by John Vaillant, who wrote The Golden Spruce, which I have and love.  This was creative non-fiction and won lots of awards.  He recently had a novel published, and it and a book called the Tiger, about an amazing ecosystem in the far east of Russia, were my companions for the journey.  I had been so busy organizing my place to get away that I had not bothered to research who was speaking.  The first person I saw was John Vaillant!

18 John VallientAnother excellent speaker was Ian McAllister.  He is practically a neighbour, living on a small island on the other side of Bella Coola.  We have heard of each other for years but never actually met.  His main subject is the ecosystem of forest and sea that has become known as the Great Bear Rainforest.  Ian of course is concerned about the terrible threat to the ecosystem should the pipeline from the Alberta tar sands go through.  Up to 3,000 tankers per year are proposed to ply these remote and very difficult to navigate waters: many animals rely on sound communication in the deeps – their ability to communicate would be severely compromised, and of course, one spill would be an absolute disaster.  I cannot believe that our Prime Minister, Steven Harper, would even consider selling this absolutely priceless ecosystem just to put a few figures on paper.   He belongs to a narrow religion that allows him to manipulate a natural world that he knows very little about.  Ian’s books and talks, however, are not heavily laden with politics – he just wants to show what is there.  The audience was rolling with laughter over the story told by his fantastic photography.  Do try and see his talks.

Saturday afternoon Terry and I fitted in another hike.  The cedar forests have wonderful shapes.

20 curley cedars

This is all second growth.  Several of the old stumps have the notches cut into them for the springboards that the old hand-loggers stood on.

21 stumpsA precious gleam of sun highlighted a bit of moss.

22 sun and mossWe walked up to a lookout.  That is the Sunshine Coast on the mainland in the background.

23 eagleThe ferry left at 5.00:pm, and for the whole hour crossing, we had a spectacular sunset.  First Mt Baker turned pink!

24 baker sunsetAs we drew into the channel, we could see the sun setting behind us.

25 sun setting on ferryThe changing colours were wonderful.  I was still snapping pictures when they told us to go back to our vehicles.

26 sunset IMG_2289

27 sunset IMG_2290

28 sunset IMG_2291Off early the next morning, I drove back up the canyon.  The weather, again, was wonderful.

29 tunnel IMG_2299

Soon I was back in the dry country.

30  dry countryAfter Clinton, the land climbs considerably, and soon I was seeing patches of snow on the shady side of the road.

31 cariboo snowI spent the night near Lone Butte, which is not far from 100 Mile.  My host was a self-published author who writes detective fiction.  Her character is Hunter Rayne, a truck driver.  Her first book is Slow Curve on the Coquihalla.  She is now working on her forth.  If you like mysteries, these are good ones.  A bonus to the stay was meeting her partner, Gilbert Roy.  An ex-Quebecois horse trainer, he had wonderful stories about his life and his horses.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but my dogsitter had to leave so I had to go home.

So yesterday I drove back into the snow country of the Chilcotin.

32 ChilcotinThis was an amazing trip.  Only 8 days from start to finish, and the first shopping trip since early December.  I planned a great many meetings not mentioned in this blog post.  And everything went like clockwork!  I even found my way from Burnaby to the ferry and back, without a hitch either way, something I have never done before.  I also made MONEY!

When I left home, I wore longjohns, and winter boots with ice grippers on the bottom.  I shed the ice grippers when I started my van.  I shed the boots in Williams Lake, and the longjohns in Ashcroft.  Now of course, I had to put all these things on again in stages.  The last were the ice grippers when I reached my road. I had hoped to take the van home as there was a great deal of stuff in it, but I decided not to risk it.  So everything had to be loaded into the truck.

33 ice road IMG_2313Who needs to go to Hawaii?  Just going down to the Coast at this time of year is like travelling to a different planet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 thoughts on “2015 Galiano Literary Festival”

  1. Chris, your pictures and stories are magical. It was a wonderful to meet you after reading your books for many years. I’m glad you enjoyed our little bit of wilderness on Galiano.

  2. You were a highlight of the Galiano Literary Festival! Inspiring to hear from someone who has created her own life truly in the wilderness. Thank you for telling us about the efforts you made to come to Galiano Island. We were blessed to have you here. And thank you for all of the lovely comments and photos about the island and about the Galiano Oceanfront Inn and Spa, where the Festival was held (and which my husband and I own), and Galiano Island Books which has created this amazing festival, in our own little ‘wilderness’ of an island.

  3. Beautiful photos and so much fun to see the contrast in BC this time of year. Hope all was well on Ginty Creek when you returned – – 7 doggies – – Yikes !!

  4. I just discovered your blog and I LOVE it! I live in Tennessee and am a nature lover, hiker and former backpacker. I have always had a dream of living the life you are living and I enjoy reading books and blogs by women like you who have actually done it! This was a beautiful post and I especially enjoyed your fresh and simple reply when you were on the panel and things got political. The pics of the beauty of the coast were stunning and I really enjoy your writing style.

  5. One of my favorites! You really made it like a mini movie.
    Some trips do seem to flow like magic.
    Wish I was there. I’ve never been to that area – might just have to go someday.
    Lucky one who lived there a bit. That said, it’s a cold 9 degrees in snow covered Indiana. I do sense that spring is in the air!
    Thanks, Chris, for a great post.
    Margaret

  6. A wonderful journey, I lived it all with you as you wrote it. Brings back memories of our trip to BC 6 years ago, loved to see the birds again, and the view of the Sunshine Coast (my family live at Powell River). A nice break for you to go away, but even nicer to come home again. Spring will soon be here. Or so they say….

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge